You can buy attention (advertising)
You can beg for attention from the media (PR)
You can bug people one at a time to get attention (Sales)
OR: you can earn attention by creating something interesting and valuable and then publishng it online for free. (David Meerman Scott)
Social media conjours up mixed feelings. Whatever way you look at it Facebook, Twitter and blogs are here to stay. You no longer have control over what people are saying about you or your business. So you might as well jump in and voice your own opinions.
Restaurants (and any business) can be a part of the social media phenomenon. In the previous week, Chris was at the National Sales Conference of the Stoddart group and got talking about social media. As a result Stoddart and their brands (stainless steel and catering equipment) are now online with Facebook and Twitter.
Be warned, you must have a purpose and you must be willing to engage in active conversation that isn't sanitised.
Food Strategy has a purpose: to hear what the food industry is talking about. Food Strategy wants to fine tune it's services to suit the customer needs. The needs of NOW. Food Strategy wants to raise it's profile in the industry by talking about design solutions and asking questions.
Did you know:
- The Australian Taxation Office is on Twitter.
- The Queensland Police Service is on Facebook and You Tube.
- Telstra is on Twitter.
Facebook - Some Facts:
- 7.7 million users in Australia; 44% male, 56% female
- Facebook accounts for 29% of all time spent online by Australians
- Oct 09: Australian users spent 27.2 hours online - 7.55 of which were spent on Facebook
- Oct 09: Australian users uploaded 80 million pictures, wrote 32 million ‘wall posts’ + 45 million ‘status updates’.
- Australia leads the world in time spent on social media sites.
These stats are growing. So how do you market your restaurant? It's simple - just get started.
Log into http://www.facebook.com/ and create your personal profile eg: Joe Blogs. You can't create a business profile unless you have a personal profile to link it to. You can use your exisitng Facebook personal profile or create another dummy one to protect your privacy a little more.
Now create your business page profile Eg: "Food Strategy".
Make sure you go to http://www.facebook.com/username to claim your User Name. This means we can now use the short link www.Facebook.com/FoodStrategy in all our marketing. We don't have to use those long link URLs that make no sense.
Make sure you create your business as a 'business' page or Facebook may delete you. It would be ashame to alienate your followers with a deleted page just when you are starting to get traffic.
Now get started creating your business profile and inviting people to 'like' your page. Add photos and specials.
Claim your location in Facebook as an official geographical place. Everytime a customer walks into your restaurant, ask them to 'check in' at your place to raise the activity of your Facebook page. These 'check ins' can be a great tool for promotion. Eg: if a customer 'checks in' 5 times they get a coffee free. Use your imagination.
All of this can push feeds and links to Twitter, blogs and your website to increase traffic and sales.
Use the Facebook analytics to monitor the stats. See how much activity you are really getting.
Read the help files - they are really easy.
Remember that more people are switching to smart phones which enables them to have a computer in their pocket. Many phone companies are also offering free unlimited download deals to social media sites. It's a great incentive for you to really talk to your customers to hear what they want and what they think.
You can now find Food Strategy at these locations:
Download our brochure here with all the links: BROCHURE
Or find each link here:
http://www.foodstrategy.com.au/ - full web site.
www.Facebook.com/FoodStrategy - interactive profile, chat and pics. Go to our page and 'like'. Then have a look at who we follow to get examples.
www.Twitter.com/FoodStrategy - real time chat
www.YouTube.com/FoodStrategy - videos of interest to our team or industry
www.Flickr.com/FoodStrategy - latest upload of pics
http://www.foodservicedesign.blogspot.com/ - follow our blog stories
news@foodstrategy.com.au send an email to request our newsletter.
Choose the format that suits you.
If you like to write a lot then keep a blog. If you like to chat often - use Twitter. If you want to communicate and have a visual profile then play with Facebook.
If you like to write a lot then keep a blog. If you like to chat often - use Twitter. If you want to communicate and have a visual profile then play with Facebook.
Now, if you want to talk about working in 'The Cloud' - that's a whole different blog!!
If you want to learn more; contact the experts below or download their seminar information.
Mel Kettle http://www.melkettle.com.au/ Slides at: http://www.slideshare.net/melkettleIf you want to learn more; contact the experts below or download their seminar information.
Simon Dell http://www.twocentsgroup.com.au/ Slides at http://www.slideshare.net/simondell
Cat Matson www.twitter.com/catmatson http://www.alito.com.au/
